Up for today's weekend news: Wowhead Weekly #72, a look at Order Hall bodyguards, a new J!NX Discount code, and a blue post from PVP Designer Brian Holinka on Legion Alpha PvP.\r\r\rWowhead Weekly #72\rWowhead Weekly #72 covers the latest Alpha build which features transmog updates and new models, and movie news like Warcraft Funkos. It was also a busy week for other Blizzard games, with the Hearthstone expansion Whispers of the Old Gods and Overwatch Release Date.\r\rFinally, we have two discount codes: 25% off all J!NX Hearthstone Merchandise with code WOWHEAD and 15% off all Blizzard Gear Shop plushies with code WOWHEADP15.\r\r\r\rWowhead Weekly is a World of Warcraft podcast with Wowhead Site Manager Perculia and Video Manager TradeChat where all the recent Blizzard news and Wowhead developments are discussed. You can subscribe to our YouTube Channel to see every episode. We also livestream each episode Friday afternoons, starting at 6pm EST, on twitch.tv\/wowhead. If you subscribe to our twitch channel, you can get Pepe and rocket emotes!\r\rJ!NX Discount Code\rYesterday we received a special discount code for J!NX: 25% off all Hearthstone merchandise with code WOWHEAD. This is great timing with the newly-revealed Whispers of the Old God Hearthstone expansion.\r\r\r\rJ!NX recently unveiled a new set of Hearthstone shirts, including the Hearthstone Rose Zip-Up Hoodie, Evil Heckler Tee, You Face Jaraxxus Tee, and Dr. Boom Premium Tee.\r\rOrder Hall Bodyguards\rThe Order Hall mission system has been growing quietly during the Legion Alpha, with updates that differentiate it more from Garrison missions and followers. Coldnyte noted that for Monks, class-specific bodyguards were added for each zone. Below are pictures of Chen Cerveza de Trueno who grants Guardaespaldas and Li Li Cerveza de Trueno who grants Aliento de dragón:\r\r\r\rBodyguards are not implemented for all classes yet, but you can browse a full list of champions in our database and use the "Specialization" filter to see Order Hall Champions (note: some may not be bodyguards) that share your spec. Some of this data is definitely a placeholder but there are major lore figures as champions such as Gemelas eredar, Vanessa VanCleef, and Nazgrim.\r\rOrder Hall followers come with abilities as well as empty slots for Equipments. Below is a picture of the Order Hall follower UI:\r\r\rThere are three follower equipment items so far. In the recent build, they started dropping from treasures and rares.\r: Grants Mochila de viajero. When sent on missions, theres a chance you will bring back a random item.\r: Grants . Equipped with climbing spurs that make traversing mountainous terrain less terrifying.\r: Grants Máscara de gas jurapenas. Negates the stench created by Fel corrupted air.\r\rPvP Alpha Update\rPvP Designer Brian Holinka has made a lengthy post on the state of PvP on the Alpha. \r\rClass Balance pass hasn't started yet - Blizzard is in the implementation phase for abilities.\rDamage feels high and the team my address it by tweaking the stats in the PvP stat template or targeting specific abilities.\rHealers currently do not feel strong enough, while Tanks seem overtuned.\r\rHey everyone,\r\rFirst off, I want to thank you for taking part in this Alpha. Your participation and feedback has proven invaluable over the past week and we already feel things are moving in the right direction. \r\rWe want to share some of our thoughts about PvP and the Alpha process as well as some of the changes we've been making in response to your feedback.\r\rThe Honor System\rThe new Honor System is Legion's major PvP feature and so it is important to test the full experience during Alpha. We wanted to gauge what it felt like to earn honor through Battlegrounds and Arenas then unlock PvP talents over time. For the most part, we think it feels pretty good, but have definitely heard the feedback that people would like their first 6 talents faster.\r\rBattlegrounds and Skirmishes\rWhen we initially launched Alpha, Skirmish queues were disabled so that we could focus people in Battlegrounds. We knew that concurrency would eventually drop off a bit and Skirmishes would become a better option for people to PvP. Skirmish queues tend to pop very quickly because there are less people required to start them and they are not affected by faction population balance. Looking forward, it's likely that we'll temporarily disable Skirmishes when we expand the number of people in Alpha to once again focus feedback on Battlegrounds. But for now, Skirmishes may be the best way for you to play the game.\r\rClass Balance\rThis is a tricky time for PvP class balance in the Alpha. At this time, the Class Designers are primarily focused on implementation and haven't had the opportunity to do a balance pass on many abilities, talents and artifact traits. We've been playing the Alpha right along side you and realize there are a number of classes that feel overtuned. The good news is that this gives us a great opportunity to try many of the new PvP specific tuning knobs we have at our disposal. Going through this process has been super valuable, calling out situations where these systems were falling short. We really appreciate you being patient as we sort them out.\r\rDamage\rDamage in the Alpha certainly feels high. We like fast paced gameplay, but some specializations feel especially bursty. In some cases, this extreme damage is caused by a bug, like we recently encountered with Assassination Rogues and their artifact trait, Oleada de toxinas. But it could just be that a spec hasn't been tuned down appropriately yet. In cases like this, we may reduce a spec's overall damage by decreasing the amount of Agility, Intellect or Strength in their PvP stat templates. But It may also be the case that just one or two spells are a problem. If you encounter a spell doing an extreme amount of damage, please let us know and we'll correct it for PvP.\r\rWe've also started adjusting some of the healing spells on non-healer specs. We know this is a big point of concern for the community. We'd like to see the rate of damage slow down a bit but self-healing needs to be reigned in as well in order for that to feel good. We'll be adjusting individual self-healing spells where necessary.\r\rTanks\rTanks are certainly overtuned on Alpha right now when it comes to survivability and damage in PvP. We've reduced their damage and their health pools but we've also started to reduce the effectiveness of their mitigation. We'll continue to monitor tank performance and adjust them accordingly. We think making tanks a fun option in PvP has potential, but it means killing a tank in a reasonable amount of time must be possible.\r\rHealers\rHealers do not feel strong enough on Alpha to be fun. In the next build, we'll be increasing the healing capability of many of the healing specs to ensure their throughput can keep up with damage.\r\rAgain, we want to thank you for your patience and commitment when it comes to testing the game. Your feedback has been tremendous and we really appreciate all you've done to help make Legion an amazing expansion.\r

Comentarios

Comentario de SilverDragon234

I'd like the Hunter order's founder to be my bodyguard\/lover for my toons... only in stories, that is.\r\rWe are always compelled to battle!

Comentario de DerpadinMcknight

on 2016-03-12T13:33:42-06:00

Really liking how PvP is turning out in Legion. The follower system....ugh...I would be way more hyped for Legion if I hadn't seen that god forsaken follower UI.

Comentario de WildmoonTheWolf

on 2016-03-12T14:17:43-06:00

Order halls are becomeing more and more like garrisons with each passing day...

Comentario de Uuneya

on 2016-03-12T15:34:27-06:00

Order halls are becomeing more and more like garrisons with each passing day...\r\rI think the whole "new gimmick for the new expansion" thing should probably go away altogether. Take bodyguards for example - having one makes me more inclined to play my priest, because priests tend to be too squishy when soloing and having someone else there makes me less likely to get frustrated. But it also makes me enjoy my rogue less, because bodyguard AI is really dumb and will sometimes choose to run straight into mobs even if I move around them. At least bodyguards share my stealth - the Shado-Pan were so obnoxious that I did those dailies without a helper - but I don't really like some dopey companion mucking up my sneaky assassin action. The thing is, at any given time I know that Blizzard might completely discontinue bodyguards. So where does that leave me? That kind of uncertainty makes it harder for me to commit to - and therefore get invested in - a character. Which makes it easier for me to stop playing altogether...\r\rOverall I think I would enjoy this game more if they were more cautious with gameplay and class changes. I like disc healing how it is right now, I don't want an overhaul. I like hunters how they are right now, I don't want any of the incoming redesigns for the three specs. I'm cautiously optimistic about demo locks and none of the other classes I play are getting a significant overhaul, but why do they have to keep breaking everything in the first place? I wish they would spend less time making changes for the sake of change, and spend more time on crafting an engaging story.

Comentario de DarkZarupia

on 2016-03-12T15:34:36-06:00

The more i read about order halls the less excited i get for legion.....

Comentario de Ranindor

on 2016-03-12T16:08:18-06:00

Guys don't panic about the missions because remember these unlock quests for you to complete not the follower also I think it looks pretty beast wondering around with Chen Stormstout.

Comentario de Warulfen

on 2016-03-12T17:56:36-06:00

I'd like the Hunter order's founder to be my bodyguard\/lover for my toons\r\rYou and me both, buddy. Emmarel is, from what I've seen so far, Legion's best girl. Much like Yrel in WoD, Jaina in MoP, etc.\r\rI'm just glad that the annoying garrison grind is gone. The follower system is fine, it was the pressure to collect\/mine daily nodes, keep up with profession work orders, gather this, click that, shoot them - that was what got to me. \r\rAs a roleplayer it felt like all the time I spent outside of RP went to just maintaining my damm fort.

Comentario de UsuallySpooky

on 2016-03-12T19:04:25-06:00

The scrollbar in the bodyguards screen seems to portend something ominous. Didn't they say that we weren't going to have binders full of bodyguards like we did in WoD garrisons?

Comentario de Wolfrick

on 2016-03-12T20:19:31-06:00

Blizzard I really like what you are doing with the Order halls and Champions, you got my full support on this!

I really enjoy thinking that they can take People from all around Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms, Northrend and Pandaria (Known People) and give them to us as Champions so that we can fight with them against the Legion!

This can give us Immerson on less important Lore people around azeroth (This Idea makes me so happy).

OH a great Idea, how about you write a little side text that says something about the Champion, where he is from and some Minor Info!

-------- The KEY to everything is Immersion -----------

Hint: Blizzard, try to Think outside the box and this will become the new "Wrath of the Lich King" factor Expansion

Comentario de Wolfrick

on 2016-03-12T20:28:41-06:00

The more i read about order halls the less excited i get for legion.....

Mate, why is that? what would you like to do about the Order Halls that would make you more Excited?

BTW, the Order Halls will never be the same as Garrisons

The main Reason: we will share the space with all our Class Brothers "which is awesome"

(Garrisons was a Great thing to World of Warcraft, but they had to make it account Wide or GUILD GARRISONS, Giving it to everyone makes it an "overkill factor" AND they should have made Garrisons and Optional thing to do, not force each and everyone in it)

I wish you to get as Excited as I am for Legion, hope your Dreams come true.

BTW: what would your dream be? ^^

Comentario de Wolfrick

on 2016-03-12T20:33:28-06:00

Order halls are becomeing more and more like garrisons with each passing day...\r\rNo, they are not! if you take your time to read up you will see that its Totaly another story.\r\rIts like they have taken the best parts of the "Garrisons" and put it to good use\r\rGarrisons was Forced on us and inside them we had Everything given to us... World of warcraft SHOULD BE CHALLENING.\r\rNow in LEGION, they are doing just that, they are making us work for it and even more...\r\rMy hopes are up and I Believe in Blizzard and that they can make one of the Best Expansions ever.

Comentario de Albaharmamar

on 2016-03-12T20:42:43-06:00

those certain followers are separated by faction i hope. Don't want to see horde walking around with Thassarian or Alliance walking around with Koltira that would be just plain weird but they're all in that journal together as though that will be happening.

Comentario de Tuckletuts

on 2016-03-12T22:29:08-06:00

It's still not player housing. Maybe the 7th expansion will have it....

Comentario de Grabovsky

on 2016-03-13T04:55:15-05:00

It's still not player housing. Maybe the 7th expansion will have it....\r\rThey have said for a long time, they really dont want to add player housing. They want people in out in the world, or at least interacting with other people(trade chat, LFR\/LFD\/LFG, pvping). Garrisons\/mists farm was a good compromise on player housing, somewhere we can escape to, but still have a use for gameplay. And order halls will be something similar to the old pvp officers club was, somewhere you could escape to, but still interact with people. I agree, player housing would be great, but its not something blizz really wants to add.

Comentario de Necromorta

on 2016-03-13T05:11:28-05:00

Since I have few squishy characters, I'm glad I will have a bodyguard tbh. So tedious and feels like a chore to level like such without any help.

Comentario de artenesse

on 2016-03-13T07:08:17-05:00

Remember that you can get shirts from Brawlers Guild, when you purchase a challenge card, and defeat the encounter. Just picked up two this morning, while I was watching the WoWHead Weekly video!

Comentario de Kendrubbin

on 2016-03-13T07:37:54-05:00

If those are mandatory to progress I can guarantee that everyone will hate the Halls.

Comentario de Monlyth

on 2016-03-13T08:15:13-05:00

If those are mandatory to progress I can guarantee that everyone will hate the Halls.\r\rBrawler's Guild challenges mandatory to progress? Why would it be? It's been a 100% optional feature since day one.

Comentario de Menardis

on 2016-03-13T21:45:02-05:00

The scrollbar in the bodyguards screen seems to portend something ominous. Didn't they say that we weren't going to have binders full of bodyguards like we did in WoD garrisons?\r\rThis. A thousand times this. \r\rI don't want or need the entire roster of powerhouse npcs to be my bodyguard, nor do I need to 'collect' them in any way, shape or form. Give us actual content, or the tools to create quests and our own instance designer, instead of this horrible fluffy timesink.

Comentario de Doctor80

on 2016-03-14T05:52:27-05:00

Put back the mana cost not in % but just like it was in TBC \/ WOTLK also eliminated passive and not passive care of the DPS, the only way you will start to go in the right way